is a circumstance which so deeply affects the condition of 

 the labouring classes, and it is also so remarkable a fact in 

 the history of cultivation and of vegetable life, that I am 

 sure it will be thought well deserving of the consideration 

 of the Members of this Society, both on account of its con- 

 nection with the natural history of cultivated plants, and on 

 account of its influence on agricultural wealth, and on the 

 subsistence of the labouring classes. 



The present disease of the Potato first made its appear- 

 ance in Belgium. It showed itself there in the beginning 

 of August, and was at first supposed to be merely a local 

 malady. Its early appearance in that country probably 

 arose from the richness of Flemish cultivation. Owing to 

 that cause the green crops in Belgium are generally more 

 advanced than those of Normandy and the northern depart- 

 ments of France, and still more so than those of Great 

 Britain or Ireland. 



After Belgium, the disease next began to show itself in 

 Holland, with scarcely less violence. It also appeared 

 about the same time in the North of France, and it 

 has since spread through the Grand Duchy of the Khine, 

 as far into Germany as Pomerania, in one direction, and as 

 Switzerland in another. 



The first appearance of the disease in England seems to 

 have been in the county of Cornwall, whence it spread along 

 the whole southern coast, as far as Kent, before it made any 

 progress northwards. As the Potato crops approached 

 maturity, it has continued to advance through the midland 

 to the northern counties, and last week it had reached the 

 banks of the Clyde. 



Sanguine hopes were long entertained that Ireland would 

 have escaped the ravages of a disease so dreadfully dan- 

 gerous to a potato-fed population, but unhappily they have 

 not been realised. As the Potato Crops began to ripen in 

 that country the disease showed itself, and every post 

 now brings us intelligence of its having spread into 

 some new district, which was before considered quite free 

 from it. 



What is very remarkable is, that a disease of an equally 

 fatal character has prevailed this season on the other side 

 of the Atlantic, and has destroyed the potato crops in 

 Canada, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia, to such a degree 

 that the colonists are now looking to this country for a 

 supply of seed for next year. 



The first and most urgent question arising out of this 

 alarming failure is, how the present crop, including that 



